The Dolomites constitute the eastern part of the Alpine Mountain Range, and because it is so unique and beautiful, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.­

And indeed, the Dolomites offer up a magnificent panorama: mountains constructed with walls of rock, ice caps, karst systems, unbelievably high spires, towers and pinnacles – mountains molded and shaped by the elements, and where the cultures of Italy and Germany meet and intertwine.­

The Dolomites take their name from the French geologist Dieudonné Dolomieu, who discovered the properties of the dolomite, a hard, chalky rock that is rich in the mineral dolomite, highly present in this mountain system.­

This entire process can be explained by the fact that up until 250 million years ago, these mountains were a mass of shells, corals and algae under the sea.­ They emerged only 70 million years ago.­ It is this combination of circumstances that make these structures, rich in Mesozoic fossils, the amazing geological formations that they are.­